Mon 6/25: Sophie’s choice: Asylum edition

#1 – Join a June 30th protest! Please wear white!

Join in to protest Donald Trump’s “Zero Tolerance” family separation policies and practices, and that all separated children be returned to their parents with no conditions. We demand the de-criminalization of asylum claims, no matter where the border was crossed and that credible threats to women and children be restored as legitimate reasons to ask for asylum (NYTimes)(CNN).

Local actions – Go to as many as you can! Click on links for more information:

Not near enough? Look here. If there isn’t one in your town, start one here.

Suggestions for signs:

Reunite families now. Kids aren’t pawns. Families belong together.

End family detention.There is no humane way to detain families. Children do not belong in baby cages and internment-like camps and should not be detained indefinitely

End Zero Tolerance. – Reverse the Trump administration’s policy that created this crisis and chaos to begin with. Stop prosecuting parents who are doing what all parents do, which is bring their children to safety. They need protection and opportunity, not detention.

This is a moral choice, not a political one.

Zero tolerance for Trump’s zero tolerance policy

We keep families together, not tear them apart.

Other suggestions besides signs:

Wear white

Bring American flags.

#2 – Join these other actions if you can.

Mass civil disobedience action against the family detention policy at the border on Thursday,June 28, in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Women’s March and partners. More info here.

On Thursday, June 28, families, advocates, and allies will hold a rally beginning at 11am in the park across the street from the Brownsville Federal Court, where immigrants are being prosecuted en masse for crossing the border into the United States. More information here and here.

“On June 29, lawyer moms around the country are organizing to gather at our senators’ offices and deliver an open letter stating our opposition to the current federal policy of separating migrant children from their parents. Each of us would do anything to keep our children safe. Each of us swore an oath to defend the Constitution. We will not let this unconscionable practice stand on our watch. Join us. Let’s make some noise.” More info here.

#3 – We should be doing what Governor Cuomo is doing.

Governor Cuomo of New York is leading the charge to reunite families torn apart by Trumps’ inhumane policies. Read NY’s new policies here. It makes it mandatory for any agency to that receives children from ICE to hand over info on the child and parents so that families can be reunited. Click on this link to find 51 tweets, ready to be sent with just a few clicks. Since there are so many with the same message, space them out.

(https://ctt.ec/3494k) .@JerryBrownGov All agencies in the state that received children from ICE need to reveal their name, ages, parents’ names & where they were separated by 5 pm Monday or they should face legal sanctions. #ReuniteTheFamilies #TW pic.twitter.com/PMgvPa2b80

Corruption follows Trump like his own personal cologne. Private prison companies, which mostly detain migrants convicted of immigration offenses, are profiting immensely off of the Trump Administration, and they are paying him back. In 2017, private prison company GEO Group moved its annual leadership conference to a Miami-area golf resort owned by President Trump. (wapo)(thehill). In 2016, a stinging investigation by the US Department of Justice’s inspector general found that privately operated government prisons, are drastically more unsafe and punitive than other prisons in the federal system. (guardian)

Keep pressure on your legislators by calling. Yes, even the “blue” ones need to hear from you for encouragement and support.

For more quick and easy call scripts on all the latest immigration bills, go here or click on the links in the list below. Pace yourself! If you’ve never done this before, try to do two or three calls a day. Each call will take less than 30 seconds. Getting your phone set up for faster calling speeds will make it easier and more fun.